PFAS: The Coming Storm

LEGAL
As one would expect, through the use of
PFAS-containing products and through industrial
releases, PFAS ends up in wastewater and groundwater, and they contaminate other environments with
potentially disastrous results. Here is an example: a
couple from the U.S. who lived
in a contaminated area had been
drinking dangerous levels of PFAS
for years. The husband died of liver
cancer, and the wife has PFAS in
As useful as they are, PFAS are toxic at
her blood greater than 750 times
levels so low that measurements in parts per
the United States average. She is
now riddled with ailments includquadrillion pose crucial risks to our health.
ing recurrent thyroid problems
and gout. U.S. health officials have
found more than 700 similarly
contaminated sites and waterways,
meaning that many more people
have and will continue to suffer
from PFAS-related diseases.
PFAS obviously comprise a serious issue where
governments need to weigh in. On the federal side,
there are select PFAS subgroups that are listed as
toxic substances in Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). This includes perfluorooctane sulfonate and its salts (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts (PFOA), and long-chain
perfluorocarboxylic acids and their salts (LC-PFCA).
Under section 4(1) of the Prohibition of Certain Toxic
Substances Regulations, 2012, a person must not, subject to exceptions, “manufacture, use, sell, offer for
sale or import a toxic substance set out in Schedule 1
or a product containing it unless the toxic substance
is incidentally present.” Both federal and provincial
governments provide guidance in respect of drinking
water. For example, Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has identified PFAS as
an emerging issue and recommended that drinking
water should be addressed if the combined level of
11 select PFAS is above 70 ng/L. In 2023, Health
Canada proposed an objective of 30 ng/L for the sum
of 18 different PFAS in drinking water.
This approach of identifying individual or groups
of PFAS for regulation under legislation has a
number of weaknesses, not the least of which is that
new PFAS substances are being introduced regularly.
Approximately 90 PFAS have already been added to
the Domestic Substances List (DSL), which allows
for use subject to risk management measures, subject
wsp.com
to other targeted regulations.
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WATER C AN ADA • M ARCH/APRIL 2024
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T

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